In addition to being owners of large carbon sinks, Indigenous Peoples and local communities are also actively participating in various other important mitigation activities such as producing renewable energies in their territories (wind, small hydropower and geothermal), and resource management projects that reduce pressure on natural resources and enhance local adaptive capacity.

For example, in the United States, Indian tribal lands cover only 5% of land area but have the potential for about 535 billion kWh/year of wind energy which is equivalent to 14% of current U.S. total annual energy generation.

In the Arctic, Indigenous peoples potentially have access to immense renewable energy resources - particularly wind and water - which are being explored as potential energy sources for the US and Canada.35 And the World Bank is currently financing major initiatives to scale up concentrate solar power in communities in the Middle East and North Africa.

Emissions from developing countries are projected to increase substantially in the coming years. Energy decisions made by Indigenous peoples could therefore have a large influence on efforts to limit total global emissions. Indigenous and local peoples are participating in various important Clean Development Mechanism(CDM) projects.

Over US$5bn has been committed to REDD Projects in the last few years and promises of many more billions have been made. As of September 2011, the main global REDD database had 480 registered projects in 36 countries amounting to $3.35bn. The vast majority of these projects are on Indigenous lands and/or territories.

The scale of the REDD experiment, combined with the lack of relevant experience with REDD+ projects, has meant that projects have confronted considerable problems and delays. A recent global review of REDD+ projects noted that they face many challenges, including: criteria for sustainable forest management, monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, local tenure arrangements, permanence and baseline issues that can be effectively addressed only if local communities are able to properly participate in the REDD+ projects.

The review also found that despite widespread recognition that local ownership is key to REDD+ success, the scope and intensity of their participation has not always been adequate and often there is lack of clarity about their role in implementation.

Synopsis
High on the Pamir Mountains, the people of Murghab have almost no access to energy. The fuel that used to power the electric station ran out after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the cheap coal that kept them warm in winter has drastically increased its price since Tajikistan's independence in 1991. Desperate for firewood, with temperatures dropping to -50 celsius degrees in winter, the people are harvesting teresken, a small schrub that takes decades to grow. Without the cover of these schrubs the land here is experiencing devastating desertification.

Developed and produced for United Nations University (UNU) by UNU Media Studio in association & the UNU - Institute for Environment and Human Security in association with the project on Sustainable Land Management in the High-Pamir and Pamir-Alai Mountains (PALM).

*About this Project*
The United Nations University together with the project on Sustainable Land Management in the High-Pamir and Pamir-Alai Mountains, collaborated as partners in the coordination, production and dissemination of 2 short videos dealing with Central Asian issues on land degradation and sustainable land management. The video Energy for the Pamir Mountains played alongside other international climate change videos at a locally coordinated forum event and later at a special screening at the National Museum of Denmark during the Copenhagen COP15 meeting.

*About the filmmaker*
Luis Patron - Director/Producer/Camera/Editor
Luis Patron is a Japan based independent documentary filmmaker, producer, HD cinematographer and editor. He teams up with talented local professionals in Japan and around the world to craft factual films for cinema and television.

United Nations University Media Studio
The UNU Media Studio was established in March 2003 and works in collaboration with a global network of partners to develop and share open educational resources. Through a small team based in Tokyo, the UNU promotes innovation in the building of interactive content and video documentaries that engage, entertain and educate. The core creative team is comprised of specialists in web and graphic design, documentary and multimedia production, as well as educational technology and instructional design. In developing projects, this team collaborates with subject matter experts from within the UNU, from other UN bodies and from partner universities. The UNU Media Studio also collaborates with independent professionals in the area of documentary production, web application development, web design and instructional design.
mediastudio.unu.edu

United Nations Institute for Environment and Human Security
UNU-EHS addresses the risk and vulnerability aspects of human security and the consequences of complex environmental hazards for sustainable development. The work of UNU-EHS helps to improve the in-depth understanding of the cause effect relationships to find ways to reduce risks and vulnerabilities. The Institute supports policymakers and decision makers with evidence-based research and information ehs.unu.edu/

Project on Sustainable Land Management in the High-Pamir and Pamir-Alai Mountains (PALM).
PALM is an integrated transboundary initiative of the governments of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. It aims to address the interlinked problems of land degradation and poverty within one of Central Asia’s crucial fresh water sources and biodiversity hotspots. The project is executed by the Committee on Environment Protection in Tajikistan and National Center for Mountain Regions Development in Kyrgyzstan with financial support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and other donors. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the GEF Implementing Agency for the project, and the United Nations University (UNU) is the International Executing Agency. The overall goal of the project is to restore, sustain, and enhance, the productive and protective functions of the transboundary ecosystems of the High Pamir and Pamir-Alai Mountains, of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, so as to improve the social and economic well-being of the rural communities and households utilizing the region's ecosystem resources to meet their livelihood needs, while preserving its unique landscape and globally important biodiversity.ehs.unu.edu/palm/

Ama, the legendary women divers of Japan have been practicing sustainable fishing for hundreds of years, but climate change coupled with overfishing, is bringing them face to face with an uncertain future.

United Nations University Channel

Channel produced by the United Nations University.
UNU is dedicated to the generation and transfer of knowledge, and the strengthening of individual and institutional capacities in furtherance of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United

Channel produced by the United Nations University.
UNU is dedicated to the generation and transfer of knowledge, and the strengthening of individual and institutional capacities in furtherance of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

The mission of UNU is to contribute, through research and capacity building, to efforts to resolve the pressing global problems that are a concern of the United Nations, its Peoples and Member States.